Fascism 101 Zoom Webinar
with Dr. Heidi Backes
Tuesday, April 22, 7:30 PM on Zoom | RSVP REQUIRED Space is limited.
Zoom meeting url will be shared with attendees as meeting approaches.
Fascism 101 Zoom webinar with Dr. Heidi Backes: professor of Spanish literature and cultural history, specializing in the representation of fascism in Gothic fiction from Spain.
We’ll discuss how we arrived at this point in American politics, some of the first things fascists do when setting up regimes, specifics to watch for, and ideas for ways to help fight back.
Dr. Backes is writing her second book, Fascist Female Gothic, examining Spanish Catholic women's writing from 1937–45 to see how they used Gothic rhetoric as propaganda to convince other women to join the fascist cause. Her first book is titled Spectral Spain: Haunted Houses, Silent Spaces and Traumatic Memories in Post-Franco Gothic Fiction.
May/June book discussion
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Wednesday, May 14 and June 25, 6-7:30 PM
@ The Library Center, Community Room B
4653 S Campbell Ave, Springfield, MO 65810
About Read Against the Machine
Read Against the Machine is a local, Springfield-area book club dedicated to reading books on fascism, authoritarianism, and other topics relevant to our current political and cultural climate. The book club is open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis. All viewpoints are welcome. Please be mindful of our ground rules for book discussion.
This book club isn’t intended to ignite fear, nor is it an invitation to mourn the death of democracy. Instead, its intention is to spark curiosity, investigation, community-connection, and if you feel compelled, action. Whether you already feel concern for the rise of fascism in America, or you don’t know much about it and simply want to learn more, this is your invitation to do so.
Read ahead...
How Fascism Works
By Jason Stanley
July/August Book Discussion
Date Pending
at The Library Center, Community Room B
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